Volkswagen e-Golf

The Golf blue-e-motion concept has a range of 150 km (93 mi). Volkswagen scheduled a field testing program with 500 units to begin in 2011. The first 10 units began field testing in Wolfsburg in May 2011. A second batch of 80 test cars began testing in June 2011 in Berlin, Hannover and Wolfsburg. In February 2012, the first e-Golf, as the production version was renamed, was delivered in Belmont, California. A total of 20 e-Golfs will be allocated to the U.S. field testing program.
The Golf blue-emotion concept has a 26.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and is powered by an 85 kW electric motor which drives the front wheels through a single speed transmission. It will accelerate to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 11.8 seconds and has a top speed of 138 km/h (86 mph). Paddle shifters are used to adjust the amount of regenerative braking. The vehicle's PRNDL stick has an additional 'B' mode as found on some other electric vehicles to set the regenerative braking effort to the maximum for sustained downhill travelling.
In February 2017, Volkswagen announced an updated version of the 2017 model year e-Golf which includes improved range, better fuel economy, and more power than the outgoing model. With a new 35.8 kWh lithium-ion battery, the upgraded car is said to achieve an EPA-estimated range of 144 to 201 km (89 to 125 mi), and have a combined 119 MPGe. The 2017 e-Golf also provides a faster charging time; SE and SEL Premium trim levels have a 7.2 kW unit that allows the battery to be fully charged in under six hours at a 240 V charging station. There is an optional (standard on SEL Premium) DC Fast Charging feature that allows the car to be charged to 80% in only an hour at a DC fast charging station. The DC fast charging function is notably limited to 2 consecutive uses, since the battery can otherwise overheat (the vehicle is designed with passive battery cooling only). This makes the vehicle unsuitable for convenient long distance highway journeys over 220 miles or so at normal highway speeds.
In Norway, the e-Golf became available for pre-order on 25 February 2014 for delivery in June 2014. Over 1,300 cars were ordered that same day. By 3 March 2014, nearly 2,000 cars had been pre-ordered. Prices range from 251,800 kr (~US$42,000) for the basic model to 302,000 kr (~US$50,000) with all available options, comparable to the cheapest petrol and diesel models. The basic package includes equipment which is optional in other countries, such as a DAB+ radio receiver, heated front seats and a heated windshield. The VW e-Golf was the top selling plug-in electric car in July 2014 with 391 units sold and representing 34.4% of the Golf nameplate sales (1,136), which was Norway's top selling new car that month. The e-Golf was again the top selling electric car in August 2014 with 467 units sold, representing 43.4% of the Golf nameplate sales that month (1,075). In two months and a half a total of 925 Volkswagen e-Golf cars have been sold in Norway, surpassing initial Tesla Model S sales which delivered 805 units during its first two months in the Norwegian market. European sales totaled 3,328 units in 2014.